HOW I FOUND PURPOSE IN MY LIFE THROUGH HELPING OTHERS
Arriving in Australia as a seven-year-old, my introduction was a culture shock. I couldn’t speak a word of English and ended up feeling isolated from day one because I couldn’t communicate in English with my peers.
As a young person, being socially ostracised took a toll on my emotional health; I was labelled a rebel and a troublemaker and eventually dropped out of high school in Year 11 without a focus, direction or purpose in life.
By my early twenties I was battling depression and mental health challenges, I had emerged from an abusive relationship, and I was struggling to find work that was emotionally fulfilling. It was a trying period in my life where I felt lost and, like many people, attempted to escape my emotions with a variety of masking and coping mechanisms.
